Method for listing search results when performing a search in a network

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method and system for listing network search results. The network has a plurality of sites. Each site has a plurality of pages. The method and system comprise searching the network based on a search term and saving original results from the search and modifying the results of the search wherein at least one of the plurality of pages of a site containing the search term is excluded from reference in the search results and a reference to the home page of the site is included in the search results. Through the use of a method and system in accordance with the present invention, the number of result hits listed on the results list produced by a web search engine will be dramatically reduced. Tens or hundreds of result pages are potentially eliminated. A user will also be able to quickly locate web pages, within each of the individually listed web sites, that contain the search term(s). As a result, a user within a network system such as the Internet is no longer burdened with having to review page after page of irrelevant information related to his/her searches, where the information is duplicative or undesirable because of its relation to a web site that is of no interest to the user.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to listing search resultsand particularly to displaying the search results in an optimizedmanner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Computer networking systems such as the Internet are exploding inpopularity all over the world. There are many reasons for thisphenomenal growth, not the least of which is the ability to discover andaccess needed information in an efficient manner. The power of theInternet enables the average person with very little technical trainingto search for information in minutes instead of days, weeks, or evenmonths of searching libraries, telephone books, directories or otherconventional research means. To better understand conventional Internetsearch technology, refer now to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 represents a flowchart ofhow an Internet user performs a conventional web search.

[0003] First, the Internet user accesses a web search engine, via step10. Next, the Internet user enters a search term(s) into the web searchengine, via step 12. The web search engine then identifies the web pagesthat contain the search term(s), via step 14. Finally, the web pagescontaining the search term(s) are listed by the search engine, via step16.

[0004] However, as more and more information comes online, ataccelerating rates, today's search engine interfaces and features arenot keeping pace. Searches that would have previously produced less thana dozen relevant documents are now producing hundreds of documents. Thisis making it very difficult and time consuming for the Internet user toevaluate and investigate the results. More sophisticated searches,sometimes beyond the grasp of a non-professional researcher, are notalways the answer as the narrower searches introduce greater risk ofeliminating relevant and useful information. The severity of thisproblem is growing day by day at an ever-increasing rate.

[0005] One of the circumstances greatly exacerbating this problem is thetendency of web page developers to add large numbers of keywords to eachand every page of their web site as a strategy to boost their standingswith the Internet search engines. Thus, a single web site, which anInternet user may decide is not relevant after accessing the web sitehome page, may produce dozens or even hundreds of result pages listed inthe search results. FIG. 2 shows a typical web search results list. Thesearch term(s) 20 appears on multiple web pages of the “www.pinemountainlake.com” 22 and “www.pmlr.com” 24 web sites. Even withenhanced bandwidth and greater network speeds, wading through hundredsof these “hits” to move to the next interesting web site is inefficient,cumbersome and annoying. An Internet user may actually lose patienceafter viewing dozens of pages of results with redundant information andterminate his search prematurely missing the relevant page buried deepdown in the list.

[0006] On some occasions an Internet user may actually want to have theresults display all pages of a single web site found by the searchengine as meeting the Internet user's Internet search criteria. However,most of the time, the Internet user wants to find a list of relevant andinteresting web sites related to his search criteria. If only one of tenfound Internet web sites is relevant, it is tedious and unproductive toreview and skip over numerous “hits” for each of the other nine websites. For example, the user may determine that the needed detailedinformation at a web site is only available through a paid subscriptionservice at a price higher than he is willing to pay. In this case, theuser would prefer to not see the numerous hits for pages from this site.In another example, a found web site may only serve wholesale customerswhen the Internet user is only interested in a retail purchase. Onceagain, the numerous “hits” for pages from this web site would not beinteresting to this user. There is another limitation in search engineand browser technology that is an increasing source of frustration tousers of today's search engines. When accessing a single result page,the “find” function of the browser will only display items on thatsingle page matching the find criteria. Thus, once the Internet user hasarrived at a list of potentially interesting and relevant web sites, itmay be difficult, especially if the web site is robust with many pages,to find the particular page or pages containing the desired information.Using the page by page results list from the search engine can beequally frustrating in that the orientation and navigational informationneeded by the Internet user may not be evident by jumping to a singlepage within the web site structure.

[0007] What is needed is a search engine that can reduce the number ofhits listed for a search. For example, a search engine could be directedto return first the home page of each web site that contains one or morepages meeting the Internet users search criteria. The user should thenbe able to quickly locate the relevant pages of each of the individuallylisted web sites. This will dramatically reduce the number of result“hits” listed on the results list produced by a web search engine. Sincemany search requests produce multiple web page references for a singleweb site, tens or even hundreds of web page references may be redundantfrom the user's perspective and therefore can be eliminated from theresults.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides a method and system for listingnetwork search results. The network has a plurality of sites. Each sitehas a plurality of pages. The method and system comprise searching thenetwork based on a search term and saving original results from thesearch and modifying the results of the search wherein at least one ofthe plurality of pages of a site containing the search term is excludedfrom reference in the search results and a reference to the home page ofthe site is included in the search results.

[0009] Through the use of a method and system in accordance with thepresent invention, the number of result hits listed on the results listproduced by a web search engine will be dramatically reduced. Tens orhundreds of result pages are potentially eliminated. A user will also beable to quickly locate web pages, within each of the individually listedweb sites, that contain the search term(s). As a result, a user within anetwork system such as the Internet is no longer burdened with having toreview page after page of irrelevant information related to his/hersearches, where the information is duplicative or undesirable because ofits relation to a web site that is of no interest to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a conventional web search.

[0011]FIG. 2 shows a typical web search results list.

[0012]FIG. 3a is a computer system configuration in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0013]FIG. 3b is a high-level flowchart of a method in accordance withthe present invention.

[0014]FIG. 4 shows a web search results list in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0015]FIG. 5 is a depiction of the indexing function of the system inaccordance with the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 6 is a depiction of the mapping function of the system inaccordance with the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart of a method in accordance with thepresent invention.

[0018]FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart of a portion of FIG. 7.

[0019]FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart of the mapping function of FIG. 7.

[0020]FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of the indexing function of FIG.7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The present invention provides a method and system for reducingthe number of hits of an Internet search result. The followingdescription is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art tomake and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patentapplication and its requirements. Although the present invention hasbeen described in the context of being used with the Internet, one ofordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present systemcan be used in conjunction with any type of networking system whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, various modifications to the preferred embodiment will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principlesherein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present inventionis not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and featuresdescribed herein.

[0022] A method and system in accordance with the present invention isdisclosed in the context of a preferred embodiment. The preferredembodiment allows for the implementation of a web-searching tool thatlists only the home pages representing each of the relevant web sites.This will dramatically reduce the number of result “hits” listed on theresults list produced by a conventional web search engine. Tens orhundreds of result pages are potentially eliminated as redundant oruseless information identifying a given web site is excluded from theresults. A user will also be able to quickly locate web pages withineach of the individually listed web sites that contain the searchterm(s).

[0023] To better understand the system in accordance with the presentinvention, refer now to FIG. 3a. FIG. 3a illustrates a typical computersystem configuration 40 for the implementation of the system inaccordance with the present invention. A user 42 utilizes a browser 44to access a server 48. The user 42 can then access a search engine 46and search a network 50 for information.

[0024] To further understand the operation of the method in accordancewith the present invention, refer now to FIG. 3b. First, a network 50 issearched based on a search term(s), via step 52. Preferably step 52includes searching all the pages of all the web sites in the network 50,to find the pages that contain the search term(s). Next, the originalresults from the search are saved, via step 55. Next a list of only thehome page for each of the web sites containing the search term(s) isdisplayed via step 60. Thus, reference to multiple pages associated witha web site are replaced by a single reference to the web site's homepage.

[0025] Another aspect of the system and method in accordance with thepresent invention is the ability to quickly navigate a web site to findrelevant information by indexing and mapping respective web sites.Preferably this is done via the incorporation of two small buttons nextto each web site listed in the search results. FIG. 4 depicts a websearch results list in accordance with the present invention. Theindexing button 100 reflects an option to invoke the “indexing” functionfor the associated web site 102, while the mapping button 104 reflectsan option to invoke the “mapping” function for the associated web site102. The indexing button 100 is preferably represented by an arrow icon,while the mapping button 104 is preferably represented by a page icon.

[0026] Upon pushing the indexing button 100, a graphical illustration ofthe web site index is displayed. An index is a list of web pagereferences within a single web site that contain a user specified searchterm(s). Please refer now to FIG. 5 for a depiction of the graphicalillustration of the indexing function of the associated web site 102.This illustration shows that the index for web site 102 comprising theweb page references 110, 112, 114, 116, 118 is displayed underneath thehome page reference 109 of the associated web site 102. Preferably, oncethe indexing function has been invoked, the arrow icon 106 will point ina downward direction to indicate that the index list is being displayed.The user can then select a particular web page reference of interest.The web page associated with that particular reference is then accessed.Upon pushing the arrow icon 106 again, the index for web site 102collapses and once again only the home page reference 109 is displayed.

[0027] Alternatively, upon pushing the mapping button 104, a graphicalillustration of the web site pages is displayed. Please refer now toFIG. 6 for a depiction of the graphical illustration of the mappingfunction of the associated web site 102. Preferably, once the mappingfunction for the associated web site 102 has been invoked, all the pagesof the associated web site 102 are identified and displayed in aseparate window, wherein the web pages 122, 124, 126, 128, 130containing the search term(s) are highlighted. All other web pageswithin a web site are listed (but not highlighted) to provide a point ofreference to the user. The user may review pages before or after thehighlighted pages to better understand the context within which thesearch term is found. Thus, by using the indexing and/or mappingfunction, a user can quickly access any pages of interest without havingto review page after page of irrelevant information.

[0028] To describe the operation of the method and system in accordancewith the present invention, refer now to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a detailedflowchart of a method in accordance with the present invention. First,after accessing a network of web sites, a user selects a web searchengine in accordance with the present invention, via step 200. Next, asearch term(s) is provided to the web search engine by the user, viastep 202. Next, the search engine searches the network of web sitesbased on the search term(s) entered, via step 204. A list of only theweb home pages of the web sites with pages that contain the searchterm(s) is then produced, via step 206. Thus, multiple page referencesfor a given web site are eliminated. Finally, the user can utilize themapping and/or indexing function of the individual web sites listed todisplay a more detailed list of related web pages, via step 208.

[0029] To better understand the operation of the system and method inaccordance with the present invention, FIG. 8 is a more detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of step 206 of the flowchart ofFIG. 7. First, the web pages containing the search term(s) aredetermined, via step 300. Next, for the web pages containing the searchterm(s), the respective home page is determined, via step 302.Preferably this can be done by taking the Uniform Resource Locator (URL)of a web page containing the search term(s) and, starting from the left,dropping all characters after the first single slash (/). (E.g., thehome page of www.pinemountainlake.com/about4.html iswww.pinemountainlake.com/.) However, one of ordinary skill in the artwill readily recognize that a variety of other methods could beimplemented to determine the home page of a respective web page whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0030] Next, each home page determined is listed only once on a resultslist, via step 304. Finally, the results list is displayed via step 306.To further understand the system and method in accordance with thepresent invention, FIG. 9 is a more detailed description of the mappingfunction of step 208 of the flowchart of FIG. 7. First, for the web sitecontaining the search term to be mapped determine all the web pagescomprising that web site, via step 400. Preferably this can be done byinvoking a “spider” program. A spider program is a program thatautomatically traverses the web's hypertext structure by retrieving adocument, and recursively retrieving all documents that are referenced.However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that avariety of other methods could be implemented to determine all web pageswithin a web site and their relationships while remaining within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

[0031] Next, each specific page of the selected web site that containsthe search term(s) is determined, via step 402. References to all pagesof the mapped web site are displayed and the reference for each specificpage containing the search term(s) is displayed and highlighted basedupon a user interaction, via step 404. In step 404, the references ofpages that do not contain the search term(s) are preferably nothighlighted. The user interaction which invokes the mapping function ofstep 208 is preferably the depressing of a “mapping” button located nextto each home page obtained in the search, but one of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that variety of user interactions could beimplemented.

[0032] For a more detailed description of the indexing function of step208 of the flowchart of FIG. 7, refer now to the flowchart of FIG. 10.First, all the web pages within each web site containing the searchterm(s) are determined, via step 500. Next, a reference to each pagecontaining the search term(s) is displayed based upon a userinteraction, via step 502. The user interaction which invokes theindexing function of step 208 is preferably the depressing of an“indexing” button located next to each home page obtained in the search,but one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that variety of userinteractions could be implemented.

[0033] The system and method in accordance with the present inventionallows for the elimination of tens or even hundreds of the result pagesassociated with network related searches. As a result of this invention,the network user will no longer be burdened with reviewing page afterpage of redundant or useless information related to network searches.While the user can choose an option to have the search engine behave asit does today, most users of networks like the Internet, will quicklyembrace this new enhancement for their searches.

[0034] Although the present invention has been described in accordancewith the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art willreadily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments andthose variations would be within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one ofordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for listing network search results, thenetwork having a plurality of sites, one or more sites having aplurality of pages, the plurality of pages including a home page, themethod comprising the steps of a) searching the network based on asearch term and saving original results from the search; and b)modifying the results of the search wherein at least one of theplurality of pages of a site containing the search term is excluded fromreference in the search results and a reference to the home page of thesite is included in the search results.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the step of: (c) displaying the modified search results. 3.The method of claim 2 wherein a first user interaction area isassociated with a site containing the search term.
 4. The method ofclaim 3 wherein a first user interaction is the utilization of apointing device to react with the first user interaction area wherein anindex function is activated.
 5. The method of claim 4 further comprisingthe step of: (d) displaying the original search results relating to thesite upon activation of the index function.
 6. The method of claim 2wherein a second user interaction area is associated with a sitecontaining the search term.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein a seconduser interaction is the utilization of a pointing device to react withthe second user interaction area wherein a mapping function isactivated.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of: (d1)determining the one or more pages comprising the site upon theactivation of the mapping function.
 9. The method of claim 8 furthercomprising the step of: (e) displaying a reference for each of the oneor more pages.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of:(f) highlighting one or more of the page references, the highlightingindicating that the page associated with the highlighting contains thesearch term.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pagescomprises a plurality of web pages.
 12. The method of claim 1 whereinthe plurality of sites comprises a plurality of web sites.
 13. A systemfor listing network search results, the network having a plurality ofsites, one or more sites having a plurality of pages, the plurality ofpages including a home page, the system comprising: means for searchingthe network based on a search term and saving original results from thesearch; and means for modifying the results of the search wherein atleast one of the plurality of pages of a site containing the search termis excluded from reference in the search results and a reference to thehome page of the site is included in the search results.
 14. The systemof claim 13 further comprising: means for displaying the modified searchresults.
 15. The system of claim 14 wherein a first user interactionarea is associated with a site containing the search term.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15 wherein a first user interaction is the utilizationof a pointing device to react with the first user interaction areawherein an index function is activated.
 17. The system of claim 16further comprising: means for displaying the original search resultsrelating to the site upon activation of the index function.
 18. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein a second user interaction area is associatedwith a site containing the search term.
 19. The system of claim 18wherein a second user interaction is the utilization of a pointingdevice to react with the second user interaction area wherein a mappingfunction is activated.
 20. The system of claim 19 further comprising:means for determining the one or more pages comprising the site upon theactivation of the mapping function.
 21. The system of claim 20 furthercomprising: means for displaying a reference for each of the one or morepages.
 22. The system of claim 21 further comprising: means forhighlighting one or more of the page references, the highlightingindicating that the page associated with the highlighting contains thesearch term.
 23. The system of claim 13 wherein the plurality of pagescomprises a plurality of web pages.
 24. The system of claim 13 whereinthe plurality of sites comprises a plurality of web sites.
 25. Acomputer readable medium containing program instructions for listingnetwork search results, the network having a plurality of sites, one ormore sites having a plurality of pages, the plurality of pages includinga home page, the program instructions comprising the steps of: a)searching the network based on a search term and saving original resultsfrom the search; and b) modifying the results of the search wherein atleast one of the plurality of pages of a site containing the search termis excluded from reference in the search results and a reference to thehome page of the site is included in the search results.
 26. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 25 further comprising the step of (c)displaying the modified search results.
 27. The computer readable mediumof claim 26 wherein a first user interaction area is associated with asite containing the search term.
 28. The computer readable medium ofclaim 27 wherein a first user interaction is the utilization of apointing device to react with the first user interaction area wherein anindex function is activated.
 29. The computer readable medium of claim28 further comprising the step of: (d) displaying the original searchresults relating to the site upon activation of the index function. 30.The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein a second userinteraction area is associated with a site containing the search term.31. The computer readable medium of claim 30 wherein a second userinteraction is the utilization of a pointing device to react with thesecond user interaction area wherein a mapping function is activated.32. The computer readable medium of claim 31 further comprising the stepof: (d1) determining the one or more pages comprising the site upon theactivation of the mapping function.
 33. The computer readable medium ofclaim 32 further comprising the step of: (e) displaying a reference foreach of the one or more pages.
 34. The computer readable medium of claim33 further comprising the step of: (f) highlighting one or more of thepage references, the highlighting indicating that the page associatedwith the highlighting contains the search term.
 35. The computerreadable medium of claim 25 wherein the plurality of pages comprises aplurality of web pages.
 36. The computer readable medium of claim 25wherein the plurality of sites comprises a plurality of web sites.
 37. Amethod for listing search results when performing a search in a network,the network having a plurality of sites, each site having a plurality ofpages, the plurality of pages including a home page, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) searching the network based on a searchterm; and (b) displaying a list which includes a subset of pages of eachof the plurality of sites containing the search term, wherein the subsetincludes at least the home page of each of the plurality of sites.